Germany 04: Würzburg and Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Friday, January 31, 2025

Today was the last truly busy day of sightseeing in Germany and I had to get an early start to the day. After waking up at 05:00, I returned to the train station, bought my usual breakfast of butter pretzels and coffee, and then, at 06:22, hopped on the train to Würzburg. I was quite sleepy during the two-hour train ride, but I managed to stay awake by once again watching Netflix on my phone.

When I arrived at half past eight, I set off to tour around the town. I walked through the various streets of the town, where I was able to see several interesting buildings, statues, and fountains. The Grafeneckart was the more unique of the buildings. It is a tall clocktower that is part of the Rathaus, with the Vierröhrenbrunnen (Four Tubes Fountain) directly in front of the tower. At first, Würzburg appeared to be more like Ingolstadt, and I was worried that it would end up to be a similar disappointment. My fears were dashed the instant that I arrived at the Main River.

I walked to the Alte Mainbrücke (Old Man Bridge), a pedestrian-only stone bridge spanning the river with statues placed periodically along its length. The view from the bridge was amazing! In the distance, perched atop a hill on the opposite side of the Main River, I could see the Festung Marienberg (Marienberg Fortress). Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough time to walk all the way over to the fortress during my visit, but I was happy to have such a picturesque view of it from the bridge. I walked the length of the bridge and then returned to the city-side of the river, where I went down to the riverbank to get a proper view of the bridge itself.

Heading back into the city center, I began making my way towards the palace. Along the way, I passed by several pretty buildings, including the Neumünster church and Würzburger Dom cathedral. There was an interesting statue of a bound man situated along a pedestrian path between the church and cathedral. The more I explored the city, the better my opinion of Würzburg continued to improve.

The main sight in the city was undoubtedly the Residenz Würzburg – a massive palace that was far grander than what I had expected. The palace was built in the mid-1700s for the prince-bishops of Würzburg. I learned that the prince-bishops were absolute monarchs, similar to the other European monarchs, which explained the opulence of the palace. The prince-bishop who built this palace wanted something similar to Versailles or Schönbrunn, and in this he succeeded. The main façade of the palace faces onto the aptly named Residenzplatz, a huge open square that gives visitors a grand view of the palace. The Residenz would definitely rank up there with the palaces of other European capitals.

Before entering the palace itself, I spent some time walking around the gardens at the rear of the palace, which are open to the public. The gardens are meticulously maintained in French-style, with a central fountain in the main garden. A small, terraced hill stands behind the fountain and I climbed up to the top, where I had a pretty view of the palace.

I then returned to the main entrance, paid the admission fee and began my self-guided tour of the Residenz. The entry hall, which opens onto the court gardens, was but a sample of what the rest of the palace has to offer. The spacious room was elegantly decorated, with a beautiful painting covering the entire ceiling. I then proceeded to the grand staircase, which was done in Baroque style. From the bottom of the stairs, I could begin admiring the amazing painted ceiling, and my amazement only grew as I climbed the staircase. The massive celling is apparently the largest fresco in the world and depicts the four known continents at the time.

Leading off of the grand staircase is the White Hall, a stunningly beautiful room covered in white stucco decorations in Rococo style. The contrast of the white stucco against the light gray walls made them truly stand out. What is even more impressive is that the room lacks any gold or other colors. The crystal chandeliers in the room add to the overall elegance. Candelabras were hung along the walls, giving the room warmth, while letting the stucco artwork shine as the main attraction. The entire room was truly breathtaking.

Opening off of the White Hall is the Kaisersaal (Imperial Hall) which had been used for royal receptions and to receive visiting dignitaries. One is immediately struck by the size and grandeur of the hall with it’s domed roof. Marble in shades of red, white and yellow were used to decorate the hall, along with various paintings and frescos. The room had several huge windows facing onto the court gardens, allowing ample natural light to flow into the room. It is difficult for me to find the right words to properly describe the Kaisersaal – it is one of the grandest rooms I have ever visited in any palace during my travels.

The tour of the palace split off in two different directions from the Kaisersaal. I took the left route first through the northern wing, where I toured several fabulous rooms. Tapestries and paintings covered the walls, with gold-covered decorations throughout each room. As with other palaces, each room had its own unique style and color scheme. One of the royal bedrooms had a pink bed with yellow wall coverings that made the room feel elegant and had an air of femineity. I was delighted when I read the information board for this room, which is called the Napoleon Room! In May of 1812, the Emperor and his wife, Marie-Louise, stayed the night in this room.

The green lacquered room was particularly eye-catching. The walls are covered in a multilayered metallic green color, which was then covered with paintings and various gold decorations. The deep green color made the gold décor truly shine and the lacquered finishing on the walls was something I had not previously seen.

The remaining rooms in the northern wing continued in the same rich, lush decoration. The palace had been heavily damaged during the Second World War, but I was glad to see it had been fully restored in the subsequent years. The tour route eventually led back to the grand staircase, where I was able to spend some additional time admiring the gigantic fresco. Each side had figures and animals representing the continents and so I made sure to find each one of them in the painting. I then retraced my steps through the White Hall and the Kaisersaal so I could enter the southern wing.

The rooms of the southern wing were somehow even grander than those of the opposite wing. The familiar sight of tapestries and paintings greeted me in each room, but it was the decorations along the walls, fireplaces, and ceilings that put these rooms over the top. Gold covered everything! Every possible space of the rooms, including the walls behind the room heaters and even the doors themselves were lavishly decorated!

Without a doubt, the highlight of this wing (and perhaps the entire palace) is the Mirror Room. If I thought the White Hall and the Kaisersaal were impressive, the Mirror Room was grandiose on an entirely different level. The walls of the room are covered in mirrored panels, with paintings behind them, and then everything was outlined with gold bordering. All of the paintings depict oriental scenes. None of the pictures I took of the room come close to capturing the beauty and opulence of the Mirror Room. The reflections between the mirrors themselves made the room feel even larger than it already was, further enhancing its beauty. The ceiling had detailed gold decorations and several mirrors as well.

The Residenz Würzburg is truly one of the finest palaces in all of Europe. Indeed, as I toured the state apartments, I was reminded of the grandeur of the Romanov palaces in St Petersburg more than anything else. I had not expected to be so impressed and blown away by this palace when I was planning my trip to Würzburg – it was indeed an incredible surprise!

When I finished touring the Residenz Würzburg, it was time for me to head back to the train station so I could head out to another nearby town. My train departed at 12:41 for Steinach, where I had to change trains in order to reach Rothenburg ob der Tauber. The Steinach station was very tiny and the train I changed to consisted of only two cars for the 15-minute journey.

I was immediately impressed with Rothenburg ob der Tauber. It is a tiny, picturesque town full of medieval architecture. I entered the town through the Galgentor (Gallows Gate), which dates back to the early 1600s and it part of the ancient city walls. This town is only one of four in Germany that have intact city walls (all of which are located in Bavaria). As with most of Germany, Rothenburg ob der Tauber was bombed by the Allies during the Second World War. During the reconstruction work, the intact exterior walls of the ancient buildings were carefully retained in order to maintain their historical appearance.

After entering through the gate, I found a stone staircase leading up to the top of the city walls, so I decided to climb up to have a look around. The city walls circle the entire town and are open for visitors to explore. From the top, I could look out over the town and admire the historic center. In the distance, I could see the massive cathedral, along with other guard towers stationed periodically along the walls. Each tower was unique in design, which made the fortifications all the more interesting. After walking around a decent length of the city walls, I descended down another flight of steep stone stairs so I could walk through the town center.

All of the buildings throughout the town center were so pretty and showcased the medieval-style architecture for which the town is famed. I walked over to the St. Jakobskirche, where I discovered a statue of a pilgrim from the El Camino, along with a sign pointing the way to Santiago in Spain! I had hardly expected to see any Camino-related in this tiny Bavarian town, but it just shows how important the pilgrimage was over the centuries.

I continued to wander about the streets of the town center so I could better admire the sights. The Rathaus was one of the town, with the market square directly in front giving visitors a place to gather. The Ratstrinkstube Clock Tower nearby was simple, but very pretty as well. The town was quite full of tourists who packed the stone streets, many of whom were on guided tours.

Perhaps the most famous part of the city (and what drew me to Rothenburg upon seeing it online) is the area known as Plönlein. This is a cobbled street lined with old houses, many of which were built in the old timber style, a fountain, and one of the city gates. It’s very picturesque and was understandably full of tourists taking photos (it is apparently famous for Instagram photos). I patiently waited for the groups of people to clear out so I could take my photos and I have to admit that I fully understood why this had become popular on social media. On the other side of the gate is a small terrace with pretty views over the surrounding countryside.

I walked back into town in search of a light snack this afternoon. Several cafes were selling schneeball, a pasty made famous by Rothenburg It is a ball-shaped, deep-fried shortcrust pastry that is typically covered with powdered sugar. However, there are now dozens of different flavors and toppings that are put on top of the schneeball. I went into a few cafes to find some that appealed to me and finally settled on two different schneeballs: one caramel flavored, the other eggnog. I ordered a coffee to enjoy with the schneeball as well. The pastries were a bit dry, despite the flavored coverings over the fried dough. I ended up only eating about a third of each ball – they were unfortunately not as tasty as the looked in the shop windows.

I returned to the Plönlein area to take a few more pictures now that most of the tourists appeared to have left. I then walked through the city gate and walked around the exterior of the walled town, where I could see some of the guard towers sticking up above the walls. I soon re-entered the town through another one of the gates and walked to the nearby Gerlachschmiede. This is a timbered house that looks like it belongs in one of Grimm’s fairytales! I was glad that there weren’t many tourists around this house, even though it was located along one of the main streets of the town. I spent some more time aimlessly wandering throughout the cobbled streets, discovering more and more interesting buildings in the town. There were several shops selling Christmas decorations and one had an animatronic teddy bear sitting on a chair on an upper window, blowing bubbles over the street.

I wanted to find somewhere to eat currywurst for an early dinner, but it proved more difficult than expected. I ended up getting some drinks at a supermarket next to the train station. When I got to the station just before my train departed, I found a small currywurst stall nearby (of course!), but I sadly did not have enough time to order anything before boarding the train.

The train took me back to Würzburg, where I had an hour wait before catching my train back to Regensburg. I didn’t have time to walk back into town for dinner, so I ended up having McDonald’s before catching the 19:34 train to Regensburg. I arrived two hours later and went directly back to the hotel for the night.

Today had been a phenomenal day of sightseeing around Bavaria! Both Würzburg and Rothenburg ob der Tauber were beautiful and captivating, each in their own unique ways. As I reflected back on the day, I was still in awe of the palace in Würzburg – I knew that I would have to take Thinh there one day when we take a proper trip to Germany. I didn’t stay up too late this evening since I was exhausted after yet another long day of sightseeing.